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Posts Tagged ‘church family’

Brass Kickers and a Cello Shine at SUMC!

Monday, December 21st, 2009

The Brass Kickers and a Cello did a fantastic job with a lot of music this past Sunday!  For the first time when participating in a service they played the Prelude and Postlude as well as the Hymns and anthem piece.  They made a wonderful contribution to the service.

In addition to the instrumentalists, we had a core group of the children’s choir sing as well.  It is always fun having the children participate in the service.

I am blessed to have such a great group of instrumentalists and singers.  They all work very hard and take great pride in doing their best.  I thank all of them for their dedication and patience.

Christmas Eve will bring out some instruments and singers once again.  I love that service as it ranges from lively pieces with the brass, such as “Joy to the World” to the calm candle-lit sanctuary echoing the very peaceful “Silent Night.”  I will have an opportunity to sing a personal favorite, “O Holy Night,” for that service as well.

Below are links to the musical pieces from Sunday’s service.  The first three are my arrangements, which the group does a great job of bringing to life!

Brass, cello and children’s choir music from the Sunday, December 20, 2009 service at Scotia United Methodist Church:

Duet (trumpet and cello): In the Bleak Midwinter

Anthem (brass and cello): Good King Wenceslas

Postlude: We Three Kings

Children’s Choir: A Child Is Born in Bethlehem

Prelude: Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming

Hymn: O Come, All Ye Faithful

Hymn: Joy to the World

Brass Kickers… Jacob Shell Prayer Service… Godspell… Liturgist

Sunday, August 23rd, 2009

It has been a busy week filled with church activities.  For the service on August 16th the Burnt Hills – Ballston Lake Brass Kickers performed.  Their ranks included the core quartet of Michael (trombone), Sarah (trombone), Sarah (trumpet) and Tiffany (trumpet).  For this service the group was joined by Eric (trombone)

They all did a great job, having worked hard on their anthem piece as well as accompaniments for three hymns.  The new music stands were also great to have and simplified rehearsals and Sunday set-up.  Previously for rehearsals we suspended a long wooden board across the living room to which they taped the music.  Of course the height was never right and I walked into that board more than once.

The congregation enjoyed the group and the players enjoyed the opportunity to perform as an ensemble.  Our goal is to have them play a couple more times this year (around Thanksgiving and Christmas).  Videos from the service are on YouTube (channel: Monead) and linked at the end of this posting.

A more somber evening of music and prayers was held on Tuesday.  An inspiring group of youth organized a prayer service for Jacob Shell.  Jacob is a third-grader who was diagnosed with a neuroblastoma, a rare form of childhood cancer, last year.  He has been through 5 of 6 scheduled chemotherapy treatments and has a difficult road ahead.  This hits close to home since Sarah was diagnosed with the same condition years ago.  We are very grateful that she is among the survivors of this devastating disease.

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